Chapter 75: Mechanism-Heavy Dungeon

Chapter 75: Chapter 75: Mechanism-Heavy Dungeon

"So cold... It’s so cold..."

Stepping onto the frozen soil, Ji Xiaoyu couldn’t help but shiver. Holding her Magic Staff, she wrapped her arms tightly around herself, trembling.

"Want one?" Salas pulled out a sticker-like object and slapped it onto his forehead. He then fished out two more and handed them to Yu Zhun and Ji Xiaoyu. "It’s an item called Room Temperature Sticker. It keeps your perceived body temperature constant, making you immune to extreme heat and cold. But it doesn’t work on debuffs."

"Whoa!" Ji Xiaoyu’s eyes lit up. She snatched one and stuck it on her forehead. Feeling the warmth return to her body, she excitedly gave a thumbs-up. "You’re amazing, Sa!"

"It’s a new item I developed last night," Salas scratched his head in embarrassment. "My combat strength is just average, so this is all I can really do to help."

"Alright, look alive, everyone." Yu Zhun also took a sticker and placed it on his forehead. "I’m not aiming for a regular clear.

"Let’s see if we can get a perfect clear together."

"A perfect clear?" Ji Xiaoyu looked at Yu Zhun, worry flickering across her face. "Can we really pull that off?"

"Before yesterday, I wasn’t confident at all," Yu Zhun smiled. "But now... I’d say we have a decent chance."

Dungeons were divided into 1A, 2A, and 3A based on difficulty and death penalties, but there was another way to classify them. Depending on their focus, they could be categorized as story dungeons, combat dungeons, and mechanism dungeons.

Story dungeons, as the name implied, leaned toward uncovering background lore. Players needed to find clues to piece together the truth and solve the underlying problems to clear them. Both Bloody City and Under the Dragon Burial City, which Yu Zhun had previously cleared, fell into this category.

Combat dungeons were equally straightforward. They featured almost no story or puzzles. As long as a player’s combat strength was high enough, they could steamroll through, brute-forcing their way to a perfect clear. Nether Trial was exactly this type.

Mechanism dungeons, however, were completely different. They contained little to no story elements and consisted of multiple stages, each with its own special Mechanism and specific requirements. Only by meeting these requirements could players achieve a perfect clear. Cold Ice Silence Realm was a mechanism dungeon.

Crossing the frozen plain they were currently on, reaching the distant snowy mountain, and climbing it to enter the palace at the summit—this was the entire map and the three stages of Cold Ice Silence Realm. Each stage featured Mechanism monsters. By defeating them while meeting certain conditions, players could unlock corresponding achievements. Earning all three achievements simultaneously would result in a perfect clear.

"Stay close to me, and don’t forget our battle plan." Yu Zhun took a deep breath and strode toward the snowy mountain.

They hadn’t gone far when a patch of frozen soil ahead suddenly bulged upward. A pair of innocent and clueless eyes opened from the mound. Two arms made of frozen dirt stretched out, and a large mouth radiating frosty air slowly opened.

[Frozen Soil Demon Spirit (Lv 15)]

[Attributes:

HP: 50,000

Mana: 600

Physical Attack: 0

Magic Attack: 0

Physical Defense: 1,000

Magic Defense: 1,000]

[Mechanism (Cold Stream): Attack interval of 10 seconds. Spews extremely cold air over a large area in front, applying 1 stack of Frost Mark to any target it touches. Marks from different Frozen Soil Demon Spirits are equivalent. Frost Marks are settled immediately upon reaching 10 stacks, clearing the marks and reducing the target’s Physical Defense and Magic Defense by 20%.]

Here it comes! Following behind Yu Zhun, Ji Xiaoyu and Salas, who had been keeping a close watch on their surroundings, tensed up simultaneously.

The first stage of Cold Ice Silence Realm—Frozen Soil Land—had only one type of monster: the Frozen Soil Demon Spirit right in front of them. These monsters dealt AoE damage and drastically lowered players’ Physical and Magic Defense by continuously stacking marks. Even though a Frozen Soil Demon Spirit’s Physical and Magic Attack were both zero, its HP and Defenses were higher than those of a typical Elite Monster. An average raiding party would take quite some time to kill one—long enough for the monster to unleash Cold Stream two or three times. And on the path to the snowy mountain, there were dozens of these things!

For an ordinary team, there were only two viable strategies for a smooth clear.

The first was to detour! The Frozen Soil Demon Spirit’s biggest flaw was its inability to move. As long as players sprinted past it and stayed out of its attack range, the monster would be completely helpless.

The second strategy was Purification! Since the Frozen Soil Demon Spirit couldn’t deal any direct damage, players could just brute-force their way through! A Priest’s Purification skill couldn’t dispel the marks, but it could cleanse the debuff applied when the marks settled. No matter how much Physical and Magic Defense was lost, they could be fully restored before the next stage.

Unfortunately, neither strategy would unlock the achievement for Frozen Soil Land; they were only good for a regular clear. To earn the stage’s achievement, the team had to kill all the Frozen Soil Demon Spirits with zero Frost Mark settlements across the entire party!

Salas looked nervous, but his movements were swift. The Priest’s Book in his hand flashed with Light, and a crimson halo instantly enveloped Yu Zhun and Ji Xiaoyu.

This was the Priest Skill Encourage (Lv 3), which boosted the Physical and Magic Attack of two targets by 30% of the caster’s own Magic Attack for five seconds!

Ji Xiaoyu raised her Magic Staff high. A massive ice cone quickly formed and shot toward the Frozen Soil Demon Spirit.

This was the Mage skill Frost Kill (Lv 3), dealing Magic damage equal to 130% of her Magic Attack to a designated target and applying a three-second slow effect!

The moment this spell—the highest single-target damage skill Ji Xiaoyu currently possessed—hit the Frozen Soil Demon Spirit, the monster’s 50,000 HP plummeted by more than four-fifths, leaving it with less than 10,000.

SQUELCH!

Yu Zhun expressionlessly plunged his dagger into the Frozen Soil Demon Spirit’s body. The Equipment skill Linyuan activated, ignoring the target’s Physical Defense at the cost of reducing his own Physical Defense to zero!

[HP -9,334]

A second line of red text appeared above the monster’s head, completely emptying its health bar. Without realizing it, Yu Zhun’s damage—even without triggering his talent—had become quite substantial. Though, of course, it still couldn’t compare to the little rich girl.

Thanks to the trio’s seamless teamwork, the Frozen Soil Demon Spirit, which was supposed to unleash Cold Stream the moment it appeared, bit the dust without casting it even once.

The battle plan worked!

Ji Xiaoyu and Salas cheered out loud. This instant kill wouldn’t have been possible without every single one of them—even Salas had played a crucial role.

"Let’s keep going!" Yu Zhun waved his hand, leading them deeper in.

Whenever they encountered another Frozen Soil Demon Spirit, they repeated the exact same process. If they ran out of Mana, they just turned to the little rich girl. As it happened, this Alchemist—who had recently activated her Life Profession—had just developed her very first Magic Potion: Mana Recovery Bubble Water.

When the three of them successfully crossed the snowy plain and arrived at the foot of the sprawling, hundreds-of-meters-high snowy mountain, a line of text promptly popped up.

[Congratulations! The players have met the conditions. Acquired Dungeon Achievement 1: Cold Assault]